MK Stalin meets Sonia Gandhi to discuss Tamil Nadu political situation

Chennai: DMK working president M.K. Stalin met Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi and discussed alliance issues in the presence of TNCC chief S. Thirunavukkarasar.

This is the first meeting between Stalin and the leaders of Congress after he took over as the party’s working president.

The meeting assumes significance amid allegations by a section of Congressmen that Thirunavukkarasar is not maintaining smooth and cordial relations with the ally and often coming out with remarks that irritates DMK functionaries. Former TNCC president E.V.K. S. Elangovan had openly alleged that Thirunavukkarasar had deliberately delayed the announcement of Congress in the confidence motion against Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palanisami.

There were speculations that Stalin would express his dissatisfaction with Thirunavukkarasar, but the presence of Thirunavukkarasar ruled out such a possibility. The TNCC leader left for Delhi a day earlier than Stalin and he had a meeting with Rahul Gandhi on the political situation in the state.

Thirunavukkarasar is said to have explained the differences over the party’s approach towards the DMK, which is charged with humiliating the national party in the local body seat allocations, when it was announced in October.

After Stalin met the Congress leaders, a visibly confident Thirunavukkarasar asserted that his party would not accept the earlier deal signed for the local body ward elections with the DMK and said a new agreement would be devised after negotiations with its ally. He also denied that he had made complaints against Elangovan with the high command.